This retelling of the Christmas classic by Clement C. Moore blends Santa Claus with the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch figure of the Belsnickel, a thin, cantankerous old man who visits children before Christmas and rewards or punishes them based on their behavior.


The fun begins Christmas Eve when the Belsnickel arrives on an old-fashioned plow pulled by cows and steers. Havoc and humor erupt when the Yuletide load proves a little too heavy for the farmer’s roof! The distinctive Pennsylvania Dutch dialect and the hilarious antics of the crotchety old Belsnickel will make this new addition to Pelican’s regional Night Before Christmas series a holiday favorite your family will enjoy reading aloud again and again.